TG4 goes back to the farm with ‘Feirm’

TG4 is dipping its wellies into agricultural science from next week as a new six-part series called Feirm gets under way with a look at the dairy business. Independent producer Red Shoe Productions has made the series, which explores the developments in science and technology that are shaping and improving Irish agriculture.

Feirm presenter Jamie Costin is a dairy farmer from An Rinn, Co Waterford, who has something of a back story. He represented Ireland in the walking event at the Olympics in Sydney in 2000 and Beijing in 2008, having recovered for the latter after suffering a broken back in a car accident in 2004.

He took over the family farm a few years ago in his mid 30s and Feirm follows this "born- again farmer" on a journey around Ireland as he discovers how science is helping farmers improve everything from carbon footprints to the nutrition content of milk.

The series, which will be broadcast at 8pm on Thursdays, will feature interviews with experts from Teagasc, UCD, the Department of Agriculture, Bord na Móna and Glanbia, and will cover the dairy, cattle, pigs and sheep, cereal, forestry and horticulture sectors.

Red Shoe Productions received funding of €170,000 from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland’s Sound and Vision fund to make the series, which is directed by Paschal Cassidy and produced by Ciara Nic Chormaic.

This is not the broadcasters' only agriculture-themed show. In recent years, Feirm Factor, which as its name suggests is a type of X Factor search for Ireland's "top farming family", has proven a successful for TG4 and its producer Good Company Productions, with the format picking up international sales.